Birthday Surprises
by x-BlackButterfly-x
Summary: Birthday present for my friend Noemi, aka xhelloxbeautifullx on Tumblr - 4 Separate fics where person A plans a birthday surprise for person B. Varying in plots, ratings, and lengths. Pairings are a few of Noemi's favourite ships/otps' and are posted in the following order Zosan, Kagehina, Robin x Nami, Gray x Natsu.
1. A Chocolatey Surprise

**A/N: Happy birthday to my beautiful and lovely friend, Noemi, aka xhelloxbeautifullx on Tumblr. I hope you have a great day sweetie, and that you enjoy these fics I wrote for you. ^.^**

 **4 Separate fics where person A plans a birthday surprise for person B. Varying in plots, ratings, and lengths. Pairings are a few of Noemi's favourite ships/otps' and are posted in the following order Zosan, Kagehina, Robin x Nami, Gray x Natsu.**

* * *

 **Title:** A chocolatey Surprise

 **Pairing:** Zosan

 **Rating:** M

 **Word Count:** 4,279

 **Summary:** Set between the Thriller Bark and Sabaody Archipelago Arcs. Sanji lets slip about his birthday which is coming up in a few days, and Zoro tries to come up with a surprise for his favourite cook.

* * *

Hana no Hana Island. Commonly known for their flower fields filled with a large variety of large flowers which are taller than the buildings, and are in full bloom all year round. This beautiful place is popular among tourists. A welcoming place for everyone, including pirates, and is essentially a holiday resort that is ever expanding and changing their ways for the better.

According to Nami, the Straw Hat Pirates are two days away from this island and will be taking a short stop here to stock up on supplies before heading to the Red Line. Stopping at Hana No Hana Island is not the only thing that will be happening in two days. In two days it will also be Sanji's birthday.

The blond cook had been good at keeping his birthday a secret, up until last night, when he drunkenly told Zoro about it. It had been one of their many nights where they shared a bottle of sake or two in the Crow's Nest during Zoro's night time watch. This had been happening for a while now, and while they wouldn't say that they are dating exactly, what they have together is pretty close, and the whole crew knows about it too. And so as usual one thing had led to another until eventually they had ended up naked on the floor, tangled up together under a blanket with a few pillows. Zoro had his arm wrapped around Sanji's waist as the blond rested his head on the swordsman's chest while he smoked. Sanji had drank more than usual last night, and as they talked about whatever came to mind, the blond let slip about his birthday before falling asleep.

Zoro had been unsure about whether to mention it to the others or not, but this morning he decided that he wanted to do something for Sanji, and to make this happen he had to ask the rest of the crew for their ideas on what he could get or do for the blond. First, the swordsman gathered them all, apart from Sanji, and then proceeded to tell them about the cook's birthday. Most of the crew suggested things that were obviously more for them then Sanji, like Luffy's suggestion for meat, Brook's for milk, Franky's for cola, and Nami and her suggestion of jewellery, while others actually tried to help. Even with the good ideas, Zoro still was not sure on what he could do. Eventually, Robin suggested a surprise party for Sanji and the rest of the crew were sold instantly at just the mention of having a party. Usopp and Franky offered to buy/make the decorations, Robin offered to make the food, and Nami agreed to distract Sanji on the day by making him go shopping with her. Luffy wanted to help with the food too, however everyone knew that he'd only try to eat everything before the party, and so Brook and Chopper will be on captain watch on Sanji's birthday until the party. Everyone will also have to keep an eye on Luffy to make sure that he doesn't slip up to Sanji about the surprise.

Zoro is happy for the help from the rest of the crew, and the party is a good idea, but Zoro is still stuck. He wants Sanji to have something just from him.

* * *

It is the morning of Sanji's birthday and the Straw Hat Pirates arrived at Han no Hana Island only a few minutes ago. The normal routine of splitting up into groups comes into play. Usopp and Franky leave under the guise of getting building supplies, though they are actually going to see if the town on this island has any good party decorations. Robin and Zoro are going to guard the ship, and Luffy has already ran off, Chopper and Brook hurrying after to him to make sure he doesn't get into too much trouble. All that's left is for Sanji to leave with Nami. However, the blond cook has other ideas.

Zoro is currently pinned up against the wall behind the kitchen with Sanji's tongue shoved in his mouth and the blond's leg between Zoro's thighs. Sanji is tugging on his green hair as he deepens the kiss. As much as he would love to stay like this he needs to get Sanji off of the ship, and so he slowly breaks the kiss. Both of them are panting softly and it doesn't long before Sanji is about to dive back in and capture Zoro's lips once more but the swordsman quickly stops him, "oi, cook, aren't you suppose to be with the sea witch?"

Sanji kicks him in the ankle in retaliation for calling Nami a witch and scolds him for it before grinning at the swordsman and tugging at his pants, "I have more important things to do~."

"You're seriously giving up alone time with Nami to be with me instead?"

"Duh. As much as I love Nami-swan and spending time with her, I love yo- doing this with you more~."

"Sanji-kun~! Where are you~?!" Nami's put on sweet voice rings out calling for the blond, "I want to try on and buy some new bikinis'~!"

"Coming Nami-swan~!"

Sanji is gone before Zoro can even blink, and he walks around to the side of the ship to see the cook fawn over Nami as they leave.

"It's such a shame, swordsman-san. I was quite enjoying the show."

Zoro's started by Robin's voice and turns to find her right beside him.

"I'm going to make a start on the party food. Keep an eye out for when Franky and Usopp come back. I'll be in the kitchen."

"Ah, wait." The swordsman follows Robin into the kitchen and anxiously rubs the back of his neck. "Do you think I'll have enough time to go into town….?"

"Whatever for? We have everything sorted for the party."

"..."

"Ah, I see. You'd like to get cook-san a present. Something just from you."

"How did you know? I never said anything."

"When we were talking about organising the party last night with the others I noticed you were quieter than usual. It didn't take long for me to realise that you were a little irritated that something which was originally going to be from you ended up being from the whole crew. You can't keep any secrets from me swordsman-san." Robin smiles as she starts taking out the equipment and ingredients she needs.

"Right…. So will I have enough time to go into town?"

"Generally, yes. However with your sense of direction it would be best not to risk it. I would go with you but someone needs to guard the ship. The others will not be back for a while yet and I can't let you go on your own."

"Oi, I can go if I want to. I don't take orders from you."

"Then why did you ask for my permission in the first place?" Robin replies with a smirk.

"I-I... I only asked if there was enough time….."

"I need you here for when cook-san gets back as someone will need to distract him to not draw his suspicions while we get the rest of the crew in the kitchen for the party. Can you do that?"

Zoro scoffs and folds his arms across his chest, "Of course I can."

"Good. If you would still like to do something for cook-san, then how about making the birthday cake?"

"No thanks."

"Why not? Do you not know how to bake a cake?"

"Of course I know how. Just don't want to…."

"There's nothing wrong with not knowing how to do something, especially if you haven't done it before. I can guide you through it if you like."

"Why? What's in it for you?"

"I am already making the food for this party and if you make the cake then it will be one less thing for me to do. It will mean I can get everything else done quicker, that's all there is to it."

"Ok…. What do I need to do?"

Robin smiles as she starts listing off the ingredients for Zoro to gather while she works on other party appetisers. Together they decide on a chocolate birthday cake and the archaeologist guides Zoro through the instructions, only stepping in to stop the swordsman from using too much of the ingredients. As it is Zoro's first time baking a cake, he ends up making a mess of the kitchen. There is flour all over the kitchen tops as the flour flew out of the bowl as he tried to whisk with an electric whisk on full power without testing it out first, a few eggs broke and fell onto the floor as he accidently dropped them when taking them out of the fridge, and he spilt some of the batter onto the table when attempting to pour and split the batter into two cake tins.

The cakes are now in the oven, but Zoro is more worried about the state of the kitchen as he knows Sanji would go crazy if he could see the state of this place right now. Robin, however, calmly reassures him that everything will be fine as she can handle the clean up by herself, all Zoro has to do is keep an eye on the cakes that are in the oven. And so, that is what he does.

The swordsman sits cross-legged on the floor in front of the oven and simply watches, occasionally opening the door for a few seconds to get a better look. Robin has told him that when the cakes are ready they will have risen. He will also need to test them by sticking a knife in the middle of each cake. If the knife comes out clean then it will be ready, if not, then he will need to stick it back in the oven for another minute or two and repeat this process until the knife is clean when taken out of the cake.

He sits there and watches for a full 15 minutes, determined not to mess it up. He then grabs a pair of oven mitts and takes the first cake out of the oven. When he turns around he is surprised to see how clean the kitchen is. As his back was turned he never noticed that Robin had used her devil fruit powers to clean up the mess. The only things which are currently on the kitchen tops are the ingredients and cooking equipment which the archaeologist is using.

"How are the cakes looking, swordsman-san?"

"Uh, I think they're done."

"Ok, bring them over here and I'll have a look."

Zoro does as instructed and carries the first cake over to Robin. A wire rack is suddenly placed on the table in front of them by one of Robin's many arms and Zoro puts the cake on top of it. As he gets the second cake, the archaeologist takes a knife and slides it into the middle of the first cake. When she takes it out it is completely clean. Pleased, she then tests the second cake, gaining the same result.

"That's great, and they don't seem to be overcooked either."

"So what now, put the icing on?"

"Yes but we need to make it first. And the cakes needs to cool down before we add the icing otherwise the icing would just melt."

Zoro listens carefully as Robin tells him step by step on how to make enough chocolate icing to sandwich the two cakes together and to cover them both. Once the icing has been made, the cakes have cooled down enough in order to be taken out of the cake tins. Robin takes them out and places them onto two round cake boards. They leave them for another ten minutes before the archaeologist instructs Zoro on how to spread on the icing. First, he places enough icing on the top of the first cake to sandwich them together. Second, he places the second cake on top of the first and then adds the first layer of icing onto the sides and the top of the cake. Third, he puts the cake into the fridge for 10 minutes in order for the first layer of icing to set. And finally, he then takes it out and adds the second layer of icing.

He hasn't done the most neatest of jobs, nowhere near as good as Sanji would have done it, but Robin assures him that the cake is passable and looks delicious. As Robin puts the cake away for safe keeping, Usopp and Franky return with a bunch of party decorations including streamers, banners, and balloons. Zoro offers to help put up the decorations however Usopp and Franky insist that they can manage and so the swordsman heads out onto the deck to take a nap.

* * *

A few hours later everyone is back at the sunny and Zoro is bringing Sanji to the kitchen for his surprise party. The swordsman has been distracting Sanji in the aquarium in the only way he can do when the women of the crew are around, and that is by sex. It didn't take much to convince the blond to join him and they had plenty of time to waste. It was convenient really.

The swordsman is a little on edge as he's nervous about the cake. He knows that Sanji is going to pick apart at it in the usual way that he does when tasting other people's food, and he's certain that he's messed up the cake in some way.

The pair head up the stairs towards the kitchen and Sanji stops Zoro just before they open the door, "right marimo, come on. What's going on? You've been acting weird since I've come back. What have you done?"

"Nothing shit-cook, just get inside."

Sanji rolls his eyes then opens the door to the kitchen and walks inside. The second he steps into the room the rest of the crew are jumping out at him and shouting happy birthday at varying noise levels, Luffy being the loudest.

"Huh, what's all this?"

"Your birthday party~, now let's eat~!" Luffy beams as he runs back over to the large table full of food.

Robin stops their captain just in time, using her devil fruit abilities, before he can take anything, "cook-san should have the first pick. It's his birthday after all."

"You're an angel Robin-chwan~, I'll put together some plates for you and Nami-swan first~."

The two women protest but Sanji still caters to their needs first before his own. Once the cook has finished at the table, the rest of the crew rush over getting as much food as they can before Luffy eats it all. Zoro is one of the last at the table and he notices that the cake he made is not there, instead there is a large vanilla sponge cake. Confused, his eyes sweep over the contents of the table, double checking just in case he missed it.

"Swordsman-san," Robin whispers into his ear, "I hope you don't mind but I took the initiative of making a second cake. I know how you wanted to do something by yourself for cook-san so I thought I'd set it up for you two to have your own private party later on tonight, just the two of you, and the cake."

Zoro nods with a light pink tint to his cheeks as he thinks about the 'party' he'll be having later with Sanji.

The archaeologist simply smiles slyly and whispers something to him once more before walking away, "I'll tell you more about it later."

He gets a kick to his ankle and he knows without even looking, that the kick was from none other Sanji.

"Here moss-head, drink up. It's supposed to be a party but you're ruining it with your ugly face."

The swordsman scowls as he turns around to see his cook with an open bottle of beer in his outstretched hand, offering it to him. With a grunt he takes the bottle and gulps half of it down in one. Zoro fights off the smile threatening to break out on his face when Sanji grins at him and kisses his cheek before leaving to once again swoon over the ladies.

* * *

Later on that night, Robin sends Zoro up to crow's nest. Most of the crew have gone to bed, and the only ones still awake are Zoro, Sanji, and Robin. The archaeologist has persuaded Usopp to let her take over his early morning watch after Zoro's tonight. It didn't take much persuasion for Usopp to agree. Robin makes sure that Zoro is heading for the crow's nest before she heads off to bed to get some sleep. The reason she has taken over watch in the morning is so that no one actually makes it, leaving the two lovers on the ship to be undisturbed until the early hours of the morning.

When the swordsman enters the crow's nest he looks around to see that Robin has set up several candles, which are already lit, and there is a makeshift bed on the floor using duvets, blankets, and pillows. Not only that but his the chocolate cake that he made earlier is also in the room.

Zoro is grateful for Robin's help. He just hopes that she won't be spying on them again. He doesn't mind it that much, as long as he doesn't know about. And it doesn't stop him and Sanji from being intimate. But he still does find it a little creepy, especially when he can see Robin's extra eyes watching them.

He can hear the footsteps behind him and he senses Sanji's presence as the cook makes his way over to him.

"This was very nice of Robin-chwan. It looks great, romantic even."

"How do you know that I didn't set this up?" Zoro asks as he turns around to face the blond.

"Because I know you," Sanji chuckles and wraps his arms around Zoro's neck, "and this isn't really your style."

"It could be…," he mumbles, placing his hands on Sanji's hips.

"I like you just the way you are. It makes moments like this more special."

Sanji smiles as he leans in closer and softly kisses Zoro. The swordsman reciprocates instantly, opening his mouth for the blond's tongue and letting him lead the kiss. He regretfully parts a few seconds later when he remembers about the cake.

"Marimo, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. I have another surprise for you."

"You do?"

Zoro nods then shows Sanji the chocolate cake he made for him with Robin's guidance.

"More cake?"

"Yeah, I uh... I made this one..."

Sanji's eyes widen, "you made a cake?!"

"You don't have to eat it if you don't want to..."

"Thank you," Sanji smiles as he hugs Zoro then chuckles, "I never thought you'd bake me a cake. I wish I could have seen it... Wait a minute... you used my kitchen?!"

"Robin talked me through it. And everything is back in its normal place right?"

"That's not the point! I can't believe you used my kitchen. I don't mind the ladies using it, but no one else."

"Right, well next time I won't bother trying to do something nice for you," the swordsman replies as he pushes past Sanji to leave the crow's nest."

"Zoro, wait! I'm sorry….. Don't go. Let's have some of this cake. Is there a knife here?"

"No."

"I'll go and get one from the kitchen then. Stay here."

"I'll just cut it with my swords," Zoro says seriously as he turns around and reaches for his swords which are fastened to his hips.

"You can't use your swords to cut the cake!"

"My swords can cut anything."

Sanji rolls his eyes, "I know that, but you're not using them to cut cake. I'll be right back."

The blond softly pecks Zoro's lips before leaving the crow's nest and going to get a knife from the kitchen. When he returns, Zoro is suspiciously standing in front of the cake, with his swords drawn and about strike...

"Oi! I said don't use your swords!"

The shouting from Sanji startles the swordsman and causes him to slice a part of the bench in the crow's nest instead of the cake.

"Shit! Franky's not going to like that. What did you have to do that for?!"

"I told you not to use your swords on the cake!"

"Alright, whatever… What are we going to do about this bench?"

"It's fine. Franky will fix it. Knowing him he'll probably get rid of it all and build a new one. Let's just forget about it for now and have some cake. We can worry about Franky's wrath in the morning."

Sanji gets the cake and cuts them a piece each. Zoro is nervous again as he watches Sanji take his first bite. Then another, and another….

"Well?"

"It's alright for a first time. A bit too sweet though, even for me," the cook replies with a chuckle, "but don't think you can get away without having because of that. You're going to help me finish off this cake whether you like it not."

The swordsman rolls his eyes at his idiot blond as he takes a bite of his piece of cake. Sanji is right; it is a bit too sweet. And the chocolate is a little sickly, but it's a great first attempt, not that he's planning on baking any cakes in the future. He'll leave that to Sanji.

The blond is already on his second slice as Zoro finishes his first.

"You don't have to eat it, especially not all at once if it's too sickly."

"Hm? It's not too sickly for me. I like it."

"Yeah well, I'm just saying if you don't want it then it'll keep till morning. Luffy will probably eat it. Chopper too."

"Hell no. Luffy's getting his hands on this cake! He ate most of the other one earlier. I only had one very thin slice. And besides, you made this for me…." Sanji replies with a light blush to his cheeks. "I might save a piece for Chopper though."

Zoro chuckles and smiles, "alright, it was just a suggestion."

"Well take your suggestions elsewhere then~."

The blond grins as he finishes his second slice of cake before popping his fingers into his mouth one by one to clean off the sticky chocolate icing. He smirks and deliberately takes his time with his task when he notices Zoro watching him intently.

"You've got a little chocolate at the corner of your mouth," Zoro informs the cook.

"Yeah~?"

"Yeah…."

"Then what are you just sitting there for? Get rid of it for me~."

Zoro smirks as he gets closer to Sanji then leans forward and licks off the chocolate from around Sanji's mouth. As he pulls away, the blond follows him and captures the swordsman's lips with his own. It doesn't take long for the kiss to heat up or for them to pull each other's clothes off. They break apart for a few seconds to move over to the makeshift bed and get under the covers before coming back together.

Sanji straddles Zoro as he deepens the kiss, grinding down on him slowly and pulling at the strands of green hair on the swordsman's head, causing him to grunt and groan into the kiss. He smirks when Zoro's arms snake around his hips, and he breaks the kiss to moan loudly when Zoro spanks him, hard. The blond chuckles and gives Zoro a challenging look, daring him to do it again. Of course the swordsman accepts, however instead of only spanking him once, he repeatedly spanks the blond several times. Sanji's already a mess when the assault to his bare ass has stopped, and he mentally curses the fact that he doesn't have Robin's devil fruit abilities, or something like it, when he has to get up and move away from Zoro's warm body in order to get the new bottle of lube he bought today out of his trouser pocket, which is at the other side of the room where he left them.

He makes his way back over to Zoro and straddles him again, wasting no time in preparing himself for what's to come. When he deems himself ready, he smirks at the swordsman as he gels up Zoro's cock, before seating himself on Zoro fully. The swordsman moans, smirking at Sanji as he adjusts himself on Zoro's cock.

"I love you," Sanji says with a hint of lust and passion in his tone as he leans down and kisses Zoro roughly, not giving him a chance to reply as he starts moving his hips. The swordsman deepens the kiss, conveying his feelings more than words ever could, and grips Sanji's thighs, strong enough to start forming bruises. The rolls of Sanji's hips quicken, and Zoro strokes Sanji's cock in the same desperate rhythm. Their kiss is broken to let out their moans as they reach their climax, leaving them a hot and sticky panting mess. For a few minutes they lay still in their positions as they come down from their high. Eventually, Sanji gets up to grab the tissues that Robin left for them and cleans up their mess. Zoro reckons that Robin didn't leave those tissues for them because of the cake.

Wordlessly they lie together under the covers in the makeshift bed and listen to each other's breaths even out as they slowly drift off to sleep.


	2. All For You

**Title:** All For You

 **Pairing:** KageHina (Kageyama x Hinata)

 **Rating:** T

 **Word Count:** 2,783

 **Summary:** It's Kageyama's birthday, and his boyfriend, Hinata, has secretly planned out their entire day together.

* * *

It is the night before Kageyama's birthday and he is finding it difficult to fall asleep. Birthdays' have always felt like just another day to him and he can't see the appeal of them. He's never found these days to be any fun as there is always something which goes wrong on his birthday. Whether it is something miner like the wrong birthday cake being picked up from the bakery, or something major like that one time he got into an argument with his mother and ended up isolating himself in his room all day. That time he ended up missing his own party because of it, though that one was mainly his own fault. This is why he is not particularly excited about tomorrow. However, for some reason, Kageyama has a weird feeling building up in the pit of his stomach.

In his mind he is currently going over several different scenarios about what could go wrong tomorrow, including the things that have already happened before, and even though this is only making him feel worse and not any better, he eventually manages to fall asleep anyway. Unfortunately, he only manages to have one hour of sleep before he is harshly woken up at exactly 12o'clock in the morning.

"Kageyama~! Wake up~!"

Stirring slightly, he groans when he hears the shouting and can feel the weight of his bed shift as someone jumps on top of it. Still half asleep he undoubtedly knows that the person who has rudely woke him up and is causing all of this ruckus is none other than his boyfriend Hinata. That's right, his boyfriend. Using this word still seems strange for him. He and Hinata have been officially dating for a little over two months now, but Kageyama still hasn't gotten used it.

"What the hell do you want?" he grumbles, as he sits up in bed and rubs at his tired eyes.

"Happy birthday~!"

He glances over to the alarm clock on his bedside table and once he has checked the time he then proceeds to glare at Hinata, "it's 12am..."

"And it's your birthday~."

"...I'm going back to sleep," the birthday boy replies, laying back down and closing his eyes with every intention of returning to sleep.

Hinata whines as he shakes him none to gently, "eh? You can't go to sleep yet. You need to open your present."

"Present?"

"Yeah. From me."

Intrigued, Kageyama slowly opens his eyes as Hinata sits down cross-legged opposite him on top of the covers, looking right at him with a huge grin on his face and his hands behind his back. Kageyama huffs, feigning annoyance as he sits back up, and scowls. "Come on then. I want to sleep. How did you even get in the house anyway?"

"I told your mum that I wanted to surprise you, so she let me borrow the spare key to get in," Hinata explains as he hands over a relatively large square present which is wrapped in shiny red paper. "So, happy birthday~."

"You said that already..."

Kageyama warily takes the present and slowly opens it. He can sense the aura of excitement bubbling away from his boyfriend as he rips off more of the wrapping paper. Once the paper is off, he is presented with an ordinary cardboard box."

"What are you waiting for~, look inside already~."

He glances up at Hinata for a quick second before looking back down at the cardboard box, then proceeds to open it. Inside the box is a black woollen scarf which have pale pink paw pads imprinted on each end.

"You... got me a scarf?"

"Yeah. I wasn't sure what to get you, and it is winter, so... And look, it has cat paws on it~."

"I can see that."

"... Don't you like it?"

He feels guilty for the way he's reacted when he hears how dejected Hinata sounds, so he quickly reaches over and softly kisses his boyfriend's cheek and apologises, "I'm sorry. It's not that I don't like it, it's just... I'll feel embarrassed wearing it..." Kageyama mumbles quietly.

"Ah is that all?" Hinata replies more cheerfully, "well if you like it then it's all ok. And Christmas is in a few days, you can have your other present then."

"Let me guess, it's the matching hat?"

"U-uh..."

Hinata's reaction says it all. The stammering, the averting eye contact and the lowering of his gaze, along with the fidgeting of his hands and the light blush to his cheeks. These signs all indicate that Kageyama has guessed correctly and that his next present from Hinata will in fact be the matching woollen hat that goes with his new scarf.

"You may as well bring it over for me later as I've already figured it out. Now if you don't mind, I'm going back to sleep. You know the way out."

Kageyama lays back down in his bed, and is slightly curious when Hinata gets under the covers next to him after placing the present on the nightstand.

"Hinata, what are you doing?"

"Sleeping with you."

"E-eh?!"

"N-n-not like that! It's just, I have a lot planned for today, s-so it's best if I stay here to start it off..."

"Why? What have you got planned?"

"It's a surprise."

"Okay..."

Kageyama is too tired to argue back, and he is definitely too tired to coax out Hinata's plans from him, otherwise he would already done it by now. Giving in, he simply settles back down and wraps his arms around his boyfriend as Hinata moves closer, cuddling up with him as they fall asleep.

Kageyama doesn't wake up again until 10am and he is a little disappointed to find that Hinata is no longer in bed with him. He lays there for a little while, relishing in the warmth that his bed covers are providing, and if he could, he would never get out of them. However, he knows he has too, especially today, and as he kicks off his bed covers he finally realises that it smells like something is burning downstairs. In a hurry he quickly puts on a pair of black pyjama bottoms, not bothering with a top, then rushes downstairs to find the kitchen in a mess. From the doorway he can see the pots and pans which are littering the kitchen tops along with a few plates, a half full bag of rice which has been left open laying on its side, causing some of the contents to spill out, and that one of the saucepans on the cooker has smoke rising from it. In amongst this mess is his boyfriend Hinata. Even with the state that the kitchen is in, Kageyama is internally happy, nonetheless, that Hinata is still here. Externally however, he's fuming.

"What the hell is going on? And switch that off before the smoke alarm goes off," he scolds as he walks further into the kitchen.

"Ah sorry," Hinata replies as he switches off the cooker, "I think it's done anyway."

"What is all this?"

"Breakfast. Well, kind of. It's more of evening meal than a breakfast, but I wanted to make your favourite, and we'll be eating out later so I decided to make this now. So here, sit down and I'll dish it out."

Kageyama obliges when Hinata pulls out a seat for him at the dining table, and he watches as his boyfriend struggles to dish out the meal he just made. He really shouldn't be enjoying this, but he finds it too funny to see Hinata dashing around the room, occasionally tripping over his own feet and bumping into things. Eventually, two bowls are placed in front of him, and suddenly, he doesn't find it funny anymore. To say that Hinata is a bad cook is an understatement, and Kageyama is currently finding this out firsthand.

If he wasn't told that this was his favourite meal, he wouldn't have recognised it. In one bowl is undercooked rice, and in the other, a lump of goo which is supposed to be pork curry but looks more like a thick soup. Not only that, but the egg which is supposed to be in the centre, exactly how he likes it, has been flopped to one side and has broken apart.

"It's pork curry with an egg on top, accompanied by rice. Just how you like," Hinata states with a grin.

 _How I like it huh...?_

"Well, aren't you going to try it?"

"... What about you? Aren't you having any?"

"Nah, I've already eaten. I had time to spare so I popped back home to get your other present and grabbed something to eat then. This is all for you, and there's seconds if you want it. You can have your other present later."

"...Right. Thanks."

Kageyama tries some of the food, and as he had guessed from just looking at it, the meal tastes horrible. The rice is too hard, the pork is too chewy, and the curry is too spicy.

"How is it?"

"I-It's great..."

"Really?" Hinata asks with a grin. "I'll have some too then."

"No! U-uh, I mean... You said it's all mine right? So you can't have any."

"Eh? Fine...," Hinata pouts as he starts cleaning up the mess he created.

Kageyama eats all of his food, including the leftovers, then washes up the bowls and dries them before putting them away. Once this is done he's dragged into the living by Hinata so that he can open his second present, which he was supposed to be opening at Christmas in a few days. As he expected, he opens his present to find a black woollen hat. However, what he hadn't expected were the pink cat ears with black outlines that stick out on either side, the pink whiskers and nose, or the blue cat eyes which are imprinted on the fabric. What is also in the box is an extra gift. This gift is a pair of matching black woollen fold over mitts that double up as fingerless gloves and mittens. These particular mittens have pale pink cat paw pads imprinted on them, just like the ones on the scarf.

"And you expect me to wear this out in public? It's embarrassing..."

"It's cute, and I've got the same set," Hinata smiles as he grabs the backpack he brought with him from behind the couch, and pulls out his own set of woollen scarf, mitts and hat which are exactly the same as the ones he's given to Kageyama, "we can wear them when we go out later."

"T-that's even more embarrassing!"

"It'll be fun! And we can take pictures~."

"Definitely not!"

"You should go and get changed, we'll need to be leaving soon."

"Huh? What for?"

"Like I said earlier, I've planned out our day, and it's going to be a surprise~. You'll just have to wait and see~."

Kageyama sighs and gets up from his seat on his couch, then heads upstairs, bringing his new hat and mittens with him. He puts them into his room with the matching scarf, then goes into the bathroom to have a quick shower before changing.

Once he's changed, Kageyama opens the cards and presents from his mum and the rest of his family, and it is during this time he receives several happy birthday texts from his friends/teammates.

Eventually, he and Hinata end up at the front door to his house and are about to make their way out. Hinata has put on his set of woollen cat themed scarf, hat and mittens, and is ready to leave. To Kageyama's dismay he is forced to go back upstairs and put on his own set of matching woollen attire too, before being dragged out of the house by his over energetic boyfriend.

Outside, the gardens and houses are covered in snow. It has been snowing for the past few days, and Kageyama can tell that it also snowed last night too, and so, once again, the roads, pavements, and drive ways have all been cleared for the fifth time this week.

The cold air hits them at full force as they walk down the street, and Kageyama is thankful to Hinata for making him wear his new woollen presents, even though he finds it embarrassing to wear them.

"I feel stupid. I look stupid," Kageyama mumbles as he follows Hinata into a busy part of town.

"I think you look cute."

"People are staring at me... At us..."

"Then just ignore them. Come on," Hinata replies as he grabs Kageyama's hand and drags him down another street.

"Where are we going anyway?"

"You'll see."

Quarter of an hour later, Kageyama finds himself at an ice rink, and it takes a lot of persuasion for him to rent a pair of skates and put them on. He just can't say no to his boyfriend, especially when Hinata looks like a wounded puppy upon rejection.

Unbeknownst to Hinata, Kageyama has been ice skating a few times before. He wouldn't say that he is any good, but at least he isn't falling over every other second, like Hinata is right now.

"Agh, this isn't fair!" Hinata whines, "how come you're so good at this. Have you done this before?"

"Yeah. Haven't you?"

"No..."

"Then why did you pick this place then, if you can't skate?"

"I thought it would be fun... And I didn't think it would be this difficult... Ugh!"

Kageyama sighs then helps Hinata up for what must be at least the 10th time already, then holds his arm out for his boyfriend to grab, "here. Just hold on to me...," he says quietly, with a light blush to his cheeks.

Hinata grins and links arms with him instantly, letting Kageyama lead him around on the ice.

Eventually, Hinata gets them to leave, revealing little about his next birthday surprise for Kageyama.

Back wearing their shoes, Kageyama follows Hinata as they go further into the city. He's brought to an ordinary, but pleasant, cafe, where they sit inside near the window while they eat the cafe's star meal of the day, and order a hot chocolate for themselves. Hinata coaxes Kageyama to let him feed him a few times, but he refuses to do it back, complaining about how embarrassing it is.

Though it is still early, it is already dark outside by the time they finish eating, due to the season. And as they sip the remainder of their warm drinks, they notice that the trees outside have all been decorated with lights which spiral around the trunks and branches. All of the trees within the busy parts of town have been decorated this way and the lights are all gradually being switched on.

Hinata looks out at them in awe, his eyes sparkling, and once they have paid for their food, he and Kageyama walk hand in hand down the city streets which have the trees decorated in lights.

Kageyama is not that fussed but at seeing how happy Hinata is about the lights, it makes him like them, just a little bit. His orange haired boyfriend leads him out of the main busy areas and over to a large park. The trees in the park are also decorated with lights and Kageyama is practically dragged through the open gates and over to the largest oak tree inside.

"Isn't this amazing~. Let's take some pictures."

"You can if you like, but I'm not taking any. They're just trees."

"I meant of us. In front of the tree."

"Eh?! No way! Not while I'm wearing this," Kageyama exclaims, gesturing to his new cat themed winter wear.

"Why not?" Hinata asks with a pout, "It's only us here, and we'll be the only ones to see the pictures. Please~?"

After more pleading, Kageyama finally gives in and poses with Hinata who takes a few pictures of them in front of the large decorated oak tree, both wearing their new matching hats, mittens, and scarves.

"Kageyama, could you at least smile for one of them?"

"Hey, you only mentioned being in the pictures, you said nothing about smiling in them."

"Just one?"

"Ugh, fine..."

Kageyama smiles for a picture of them both, though he ends up looking more scary than happy, however that seems to be good enough for Hinata, who then also convinces Kageyama to kiss him for another photo.

Once the photos are taken Kageyama watches as Hinata happily looks through them on his phone while they make their way out of the park, and he can't help but to smile a little at that. Today didn't turn out to be so bad after all.


	3. Officer Nico

**Title:** Officer Nico

 **Pairing:** Robin x Nami

 **Rating:** M

 **Word Count:** 2,531

 **Summary:** For her birthday, Nami is going out for drinks with Sanji and the girls. However things take an unexpected turn when Nami finds out that Vivi has ordered her a surprise.

* * *

Nami's friends Vivi, Kaya, and Sanji, are currently at her place for a pre drinks party before their big night out for her birthday. Nami has changed her outfit several times already and has now settled for wearing her short low-cut black dress with matching heels. She has left her long wavy hair down and has placed a silver butterfly clip into her hair. Kaya on the other hand has her hair tied back tonight and is wearing a dark purple knee length dress with purple heels, Sanji is wearing black skinny jeans and a dark blue dress shirt, while Vivi is wearing a white dress and white heels.

The orange haired beauty is both excited and nervous tonight as this will be the first time that she is going to a gay bar with her friends. Nami has only recently come out to her friends and family after struggling with her sudden attraction to the same sex. Even before this she would never judge someone for who they like, her best friend Sanji is bisexual after all. However, she found it difficult when she started falling for her straight friend Vivi. Nami has never told her blue haired crush about this, as she had gotten over it sooner than she thought she would. Of course the feelings are still there and occasionally hit her at full force at the strangest of times, however she knows that nothing will ever happen and so she is moving on and dealing with these feelings as best as she can.

Back to the night out, this isn't the first time that Nami has been to a gay bar, she has been several times in the past year when she was coming to terms with her sexuality, but this is the first time that she is going there with her friends who are currently chatting in the kitchen as they sip their drinks. Nami has lost count over how many they have all had, but she's pretty sure that they have been here for over an hour making small talk. And Nami is bored.

"Can we go now, please~?" She whines. "I'm so bored and we haven't even ordered the taxi yet.

"We can't go yet Nami-swan~." Sanji swoons.

"Ugh, why not?"

Kaya giggles quietly and shares a look with Vivi, "go on, tell her~."

The blue haired princess, as her friends like to call her since she comes from a wealthy background, simply fiddles with the bracelet on her wrist and looks away nervously.

Intrigued, Nami leans forward in her seat and rests her arms on the table as she focuses on Vivi who is sitting at the opposite end, "well? Go on, tell me."

"I... I..."

"She ordered you a stripper Nami-swan~!" Sanji blurts out, unable to hold the secret in any longer.

The birthday girl's eyes widen in shock, "Eh?! A stripper?! ... Vivi please tell me you didn't order a male one like last year for Kaya's birthday..."

"N-N-No, I got a female one..."

"Where from? That expensive place again? The one with a logo of a crocodile or whatever it was?" _Really weird choice for a logo..._ Nami thinks to herself.

Vivi nods and keeps avoiding eye contact with her, "I ordered the most expensive female too..."

"You did what?! How much is this costing?! It's around a grand for a one star stripper at that place!"

"T-There's no need to panic over it and it's best that you don't know…."

They are interrupted by the doorbell ringing and Nami jumps up from her seat.

"Oh my god is that her? G-Go and cancel. I'll hide here. You can get your money back right?"

"Probably…. but you can't cancel now, she's already here. It would be rude. I thought you'd like it…."

"It's way too expensive Vivi, I can't accept this."

"Nami-swan," Sanji says in serious tone, a trickle of blood running from his nose, "this is a gift. Please accept it."

Nami rolls her eyes at the idiot blond and sighs, "ok…. Someone go and let her in. And Sanji, clean yourself up."

Sanji grabs a tissue while Vivi leaves the kitchen to go and open the front door. Kaya follows after Vivi and Nami nervously heads out a few seconds later.

The birthday girl's breath hitches in the back of her throat when her eyes land on the woman who is standing in the doorway, talking to Vivi as she's let into Nami's house. To Nami, the woman looks like a goddess with her tall, slender frame, large breasts, dark skin, brown eyes, and long black hair. It doesn't help that she is dressed as a policewoman and is wearing a short black leather skirt with a thick black belt which has a pouch for her fake baton and her pair of silver handcuffs which are clipped onto it. As well as a police hat, and a tight white buttoned up shirt which has the top few buttons undone to show off her cleavage. To finish the look, on her shirt is a fake police badge which says Officer Nico.

Brown eyes connect with hers and before she has a chance to speak or even move, Sanji rushes past her and swoons over the woman. 'Officer' Nico smiles politely as the blond showers her with compliments. When she deems him finished, she puts down her large bag, which Nami had never even noticed she had, onto the coffee table and takes out a clear CD case. The woman then takes out the CD inside and hands it to Vivi who heads over to the stereo to put it in and turns on the music.

"Right, I'm Officer Nico. Which one of you has been a very naughty woman and is in need of being restrained," she says as she reaches for the handcuffs on her belt and holds them up as she glances around the room.

"I've been very naughty~ please restrain me Officer Nico~," Sanji swoons.

Vivi giggles as she turns on the music, "you're not a woman though are you Sanji-chan. The birthday girl is over there."

Nami bites her lip and smiles shyly when Nico's gaze lands on her once more, and the others notice that she is being quieter than usual.

"I see," 'Officer' Nico smirks as she walks towards Nami, swaying her hips to the beat of the music, "then it seems you have the right to remain silent~."

Her entire body heats up as the brown eyed woman stops in front of her, leaving a really small gap between them as she slowly slides her hand up Nami's bare arm and leans closer, causing their breast to touch as she gently moves Nami's arms behind her back and handcuffs her wrists together, whispering into her ear a few more lines of the rights that are read out during a real arrest. 'Officer' Nico then slowly pulls away and asks Sanji to get them a chair from the kitchen. He obliges instantly, even rearranging the furniture in the living room to give Nami and Nico more space.

Nami is guided over to the chair and made to sit down while her friends take a seat on the sofa, which has been pushed to the back wall, and watch slightly embarrassed and intrigued to see what happens next. Sanji has to jump back up and get some tissues from the kitchen as his nose keeps running from watching the display which hasn't even started yet.

Nami's eyes are transfixed on the woman in front of her as she slowly thrusts and rolls her body to the music before leaning closer and placing her hat onto Nami's head. 'Officer' Nico places her hands on either side of Nami's chair as she bends forward over the birthday girl's lap and dances erotically as she spreads Nami's legs and drops down to the floor in-between them. She then gets back up and slowly unbuttons the rest of her shirt as she sits on Nami's lap, her legs wrapped around the back of the chair. She smirks as she grinds down on Nami to the beat of the music and takes off her shirt, revealing her bra. Once the shirt is off, 'Officer' Nico gets off of Nami's lap and steps back from the chair as she kicks off her heels and sways her hips, slowly taking off her leather skirt and belt, leaving her in her black lacy lingerie.

The birthday girl has forgotten all about her friends who are sitting behind her and is unaware that Sanji has once again gotten up and headed into the kitchen for more tissues, hiding out for a few minutes as he cools down.

Nami would never admit it, but right now she is extremely horny and a little wet, though from the look in Nico's eyes she reckons that she doesn't even need to admit it as it seems obvious to the other woman. Her stomach twists as she realises that to Nico this is just a part of the job and she has probably left other people in a worse state.

So far this is definitely worth the money and it is about to get even better.

Sanji is now back in the room as 'Officer' Nico walks over to the coffee table and reaches into her bag. Nami licks her lips in anticipation and her eyes light up as some sturdy rope is taken out of the bag. She smirks as Nico heads back over to her and proceeds to tie her to the chair. She reckons that what happens next must be big if she's having to be restrained with rope as well as the handcuffs which are already on her wrist.

'Officer' Nico keeps Nami's legs apart and ties them to the adjoining chair legs. She then leans forwards as she talks to Nami, which she hasn't seemed to have done in ages, and when Nico stops, it leaves her craving the other woman's voice, "your friend over there paid for you to have the full experience. However, unfortunately for you I have my own strict policy of not getting completely naked during these shows. But don't worry, I'll make it worth your while. There's still a lot more I can do for you~."

Still lost for words, Nami nods and swallows thickly as Nico heads back to her bag and gets out some baby oil. The birthday girl watches as 'Officer' Nico continues her routine with the oil, dancing erotically right in front of her, her eyes following the drops of oil as they run down over Nico's chest, stomach and thighs. Once that part of the routine is done, the brown eyed woman grabs her bag and brings it closer, smirking as she takes out a vibrator. Nami's eyes widen as she never expected this to be a part of the routine, and is extremely embarrassed when she lets out a quiet moan as Nico turns on the vibrator and teasingly runs it along Nami's thighs.

The display has gotten too much for Sanji who is now hiding out in the kitchen trying to control his nose bleed, though he occasionally peeks his head around the doorframe to see what is happening.

The routine stops as suddenly as it started and Nico politely asks Vivi to turn off the music, before whispering to Nami as she unties her and takes off the handcuffs, "you're more composed than most clients have been in the past."

"Yeah well, I can handle it," she replies with a grin.

"That's such a shame, because I did love hearing that little moan that escaped your lips earlier~."

Nami doesn't get a chance to reply as 'Officer' Nico has already taken back her hat and walked away to pack up her things and put her clothes back on. Together they all clean up the living room and put the furniture back into their place. Vivi is currently ringing for a taxi to go on their night out, while Sanji is back to swooning over Nico and telling her how much he loved her performance.

It's not long until their taxi arrives and they are getting ready to leave.

"Officer Nico~," Sanji swoons, "how will you be getting home my dear~?"

"I have a few more jobs tonight and I have a company car with me."

"Nami, are you ready to go?" Kaya asks the orange haired beauty, waving her hand in front of Nami's eyeline to get her attention.

The birthday girl is still in a daze from the performance, and she still can't stop staring at 'Officer' Nico. She is certain that it hasn't gone unnoticed by the woman either, "hm, did you say something?"

"I said are you ready to leave?"

"Ah um, you guys go on ahead. I've…. changed my mind about this dress. I'll go and put something else on and then meet you there."

"Ok, if you're sure…."

"Yeah I'm sure," Nami replies with a smile and hurries them out the door. _Did they believe me? I couldn't exactly say that I need to change my underwear…. Ugh, I am actually going to have to change my dress now too. What shall I put on….?_

The birthday girl waves to her friends as they leave in the taxi, and then shuts the door. She heads straight for the stairs and is about to take the first step until she stops in her tracks at hearing a cough from across the room.

"Did you forget that I'm still here? That is quite amusing actually."

Turning to her right, her eyes widen when she sees 'Officer' Nico standing by the coffee table holding her bag, "u-uh yeah, I'm so sorry…"

Nico chuckles and smiles as she puts down her bag and takes out a small rectangular piece of card from the front compartment, "do you have a pen?"

"Y-Yes I do….," Nami replies, not moving from her spot at the bottom of the staircase.

"May I borrow it then?"

"A-ah! Yes of course. Sorry!," flustered, she quickly rushes into the kitchen and grabs a pen before going back into the living room and handing it over to Nico.

Nami watches as the woman crouches down on the floor as she rests the card on the low coffee table, turning the card around to write on the back.

"I never asked for your name."

"Ah, um, I'm Nami."

"Well, Nami~," Nico purrs as she gets back up and hands over the card and pen, "I don't make a habit of this but you intrigue me. Here's my business card. I just wrote down my personal number for you on the back. Call me."

"O-Ok…."

Lost for words, Nami watches Nico as she picks up her bag and heads out the front door. Looking down at the card she sees that the woman has indeed written down her personal number on the back as well her name.

"Robin…..," she smiles as she reads the name out loud, before quickly heading upstairs to change her outfit.

She's definitely going to be calling Robin soon. She might even call her tomorrow.


	4. Natsu in Wonderland

**Title:** Natsu in Wonderland

 **Pairing:** Gray x Natsu

 **Rating:** T

 **Word Count:** 8,509

 **Summary:** Natsu is looking for the perfect birthday present to surprise Gray with. However he's left it right up until the day before Gray's birthday and is having a hard time picking out a present. He sees Lucy, who is supposed to be out of town on a job, and chases after her, hoping that she can help him. However, when he follows Lucy into a park, he ends up falling down a large rabbit hole. And if that wasn't strange enough, things are only about to get even stranger.

* * *

It is another warm, sunny day in Magnolia, not a single cloud in the sky, and it is exactly one day until Fairy Tail, the strongest guild in the Kingdom of Fiore, will throw a party in celebration of the birthday of one of their mages, Gray Fullbuster. This is why Natsu and Happy are currently wandering from shop to shop within Magnolia, looking for the perfect birthday present.

"Natsu~, I'm hungry~," Happy whines as he floats in the air beside his friend.

"Me too~. But we can't eat yet. I still need to find a present for Gray."

The exceed sighs and follows Natsu as he exits another shop, empty handed, "You shouldn't have left it this late to get one. His birthday is tomorrow."

"I know that. I thought it would be easy, but I don't know what to get him. What have you got him?"

"Fish~," Happy replies, dreamily, a spot of drool escaping the corner of his mouth, "I had to get more yesterday though, because his present went missing..."

"You ate it, you mean."

"Ah, I couldn't help it, it looked so good~. Tasted good too~. Agh I'm soo hungry~. Can't we stop for food, and continue looking afterwards?"

"No, the shops will be closing soon. I have to hurry and find something."

"Can't Lucy help us? She'll know what to get."

"Lucy's working on a job, and she won't be back until tomorrow," Natsu sighs as he glances through shop windows while he passes them by.

"Natsu, look out!"

"Eh?"

As he turns to look at Happy, still not paying attention to where he is walking, it's already too late as Natsu falls down two flights of steps, landing harshly on the concrete ground at the bottom.

"Natsu! Are you okay!?"

The dragon slayer groans as he sits up and nurses his sore head, "Yeah, I'm ok."

Happy helps him up, and as Natsu gets to his feet, he sees their friend Lucy walk past them and turn into another street. _Lucy? I thought she was out of town on a job..._

"Oi, Lucy!"

Natsu quickly hurries after her, Happy following him, but he just can't seem to catch up with her.

"Agh, I can't believe I'm this late already. I need to hurry!" Lucy panics, glancing to a silver pocket watch in her hand.

Natsu and Happy keep calling out to her as they try to catch her up, weaving in and out of the crowds on the busy streets, but she doesn't seem to hear them. As they follow her into the Southgate Park, Natsu can't believe his eyes when he sees Lucy suddenly grow a fluffy, round White Rabbit tail, which busts out of her skirt, and a pair of White Rabbit ears which pop out on her head.

Natsu continues to run after her, Happy falling behind, as she heads to a large oak tree in the middle of the park and disappears behind it. He rushes around the trunk of the tree, and his eyes widen as he falls once again, however this time he falls into a large rabbit hole, instead of down a flight of stairs, and sees the look of panic on Happy's face when his head pops into view as he calls out to him.

The dragon slayer keeps on falling, though he unexpectedly descends slowly, and looks around in wonder as large ticking clocks, tall flower pots, and a large fireplace pass him by, along with fish and other animals which are somehow swimming and floating in the air. With a gush of wind, he crashes to the floor, landing in a distorted hallway, which never seems to end. Natsu quickly gets up when he sees Lucy once again, and follows after her as she goes through a large brown wooden door.

"Oi, Lucy! Where are you going?! What is this place?!"

Natsu ends up in a large and tall, empty room, when his eyes scan the place and land on Lucy, the celestial spirit mage is already going through another door at the other side of the room, disappearing once again. He quickly hurries over, but the closer that Natsu should be getting to the door, the further away it gets, and the smaller it becomes, until eventually it is no bigger than the size of a mouse. Natsu crouches down on the floor and reaches for the tiny door handle, trying to open it, however it doesn't budge and he hears someone shout in pain.

"What was that for?!"

Confused, he takes a closer look. As he studies the door handle, he watches as a pair of brown eyes appear, along with an engraving of cat ears just above the brass metal.

"Carla? What are you doing here? What happened to you?"

"I don't know what you're on about this Carla for, or what it is, but I am simply just a door, obviously."

Confused, Natsu closes his eyes and opens them again, only to see the exact same thing and know that it is definitely Carla who has somehow been turned into this tiny door.

"Who are you, and what do you want?"

"Uh, I'm Natsu... Oh yeah! I was following Lucy. She came through here."

"I don't know any Lucy. The only person who has been through here is the White Rabbit."

"Right, the White Rabbit then. I need to find her," Natsu replies as he tries to open the door again.

"Ow! Stop that! I can't let you through!"

"Huh, why not?"

"You're much too big, simply impassable."

"Don't you mean impossible?"

"Of course not," Carla the door scoffs, "I know what I'm talking about, and you're impassable. Nothing is impossible. Just use the bottle on the table."

"Table? What table?" Natsu asks as he looks behind him, and before his very eyes, a large, round, glass table floats down in front of him, and a glass potion bottle lands on top of it.

"Just read the directions. It's simple enough."

Natsu gets up from the floor and goes over to the table, picking up the glass bottle. He reads the words on the label, which is attached to the bottle by a piece of string, out loud to himself, "Drink Me."

Warily he takes out the cork, placing it on the table, and then takes a small sip of the contents in the bottle. An assortment of flavours explodes in his mouth, and he takes more small sips as he tries to figure out each one. "It tastes like... cherry tart... custard... pineapple... and roast turkey?"

As he still tries to figure out the taste, Natsu feels a weird sensation engulf his body, and the bottle he is holding in his hands starts to increase in size. "What's going on? The bottle is getting bigger."

Carla rolls her eyes at his stupidity, "It's not getting bigger. You're getting smaller."

Natsu struggles to keep the bottle up as he gets smaller, and drops it as he falls to the floor, the label on the bottle falling on top of him, and covering him like a blanket. The dragon slayer crawls out from underneath the label, and scrambles up onto his feet. He grins when he sees that he is now the right size to able to get through the door and reaches out to grab the handle, but it moves away from him.

"Ah wait, I forgot to tell you. I'm locked."

"Locked?! You could have told me that before I did this!" Natsu shouts, gesturing to himself to emphasise how small he's become.

"Oi, don't shout at me! It's your fault for wanting to go through the door in the first place. And what are you getting angry for anyway? You have the key."

"Huh? No I don't."

"Yes you do. You must have left it up there."

Natsu follows the door handle's gaze to see a gold key appear on the glass table which has gotten even larger to him now. The dragon slayer makes his way over and tries to climb up the table leg, but ends up sliding down it and landing back on the floor. "Great. How am I supposed to get the key now?"

"Humph, try the box of course. Boys are so stupid."

On the floor in front of him, Natsu spots a small trinket box and opens it. Inside are several small pink and blue biscuits which all have the words, "Eat Me" written on them. "What do these do?"

"Do I have to explain everything to you?" Carla asks in annoyance. "They make you bigger."

"Oh right."

The dragon slayer takes out a small blue biscuit and eats it all in one bite. He starts to panic when he starts crying uncontrollably, "Huh, what's happening now?! You said that they'd make me bigger, not make me cry!"

"Ah, I forgot, it's the pink biscuits which make you bigger, while the blue ones make you cry," Carla explains with a chuckle."

Natsu groans and eats a pink biscuit, all while still crying uncontrollably. As he becomes bigger, he ends up even larger than he was before, and his tears cause the room to start flooding. Carla's eyes widen as the water levels rise, and the potion bottle floats away. "Natsu quick, the bottle!"

Quickly, Natsu grabs the bottle, and takes a few sips.

"No don't drink it! I meant for you to grab!"

"Well you should have just said that in the first place!" Natsu yells as he shrinks once more and ends up landing in the potion bottle as it falls back down and into the water. His tears have stopped, but the water levels keep rising, and he, along with the bottle, end up being pushed along the current and through the keyhole in the door, into the ocean that resides on the other side.

"Ugh, where the hell am I now?"

Still being swept along the current, Natsu tries to get out of the bottle, but to no avail, his motion sickness has caused him to become weaker and he finds it hard to try and not throw up. Admitting defeat, he slumps down cross legged at the bottom of the bottle, groaning as his motion sickness gets worse. He lets the ocean carry him, that is, until he hears a splash from behind and senses a familiar smell.

"Wendy?"

Shakily standing up, he turns around, and in the distance he can spot a rowing boat heading his way. As it gets closer, he can see that the figure rowing the boat is definitely Wendy. She looks relatively the same, wearing her usual clothing, however, the only difference is that she has small round ears at either side of her head, and she has a long thin tail.

Natsu shouts out to her for help, and it's not long until she's beside Natsu and looking at him curiously, "are you ok, do you need any help?" She asks.

"Yeah, I can't get out of this bottle, and it's making me sick."

"Ok, hang on a minute," Wendy replies as she puts her rowing paddles down in the boat before standing up and reaching over to help.

"What's with those ears and tail?"

"Huh? They're just normal. Do you think they look weird...?"

"N-No, of course not."

"Who are you anyway?"

"It's me, Natsu. Don't you remember me, Wendy?"

"Wendy? I'm not Wendy. I'm just a mouse. You must have me confused with someone else. Try and jump up, I might be able to grab your hand and pull you out," the mouse replies as she reaches her hand into the potion bottle.

Natsu jumps up and tries to grab her hand. However, the bottle topples over causing Natsu to fall out into the ocean.

"Natsu-san!"

The current picks up, and washes the dragon slayer onto the shore of a nearby island. Disorientated, he sits up in the sand, and as his sight comes into focus, he can see and hear Wendy the Mouse rowing over to the shore, and calling out his name. When she gets close enough, the mouse jumps out of her rowing boat and rushes over to help him.

"I'm so sorry Natsu-san, this is all my fault. If I hadn't have made you jump-"

"It's not your fault. Don't worry about it," Natsu replies with a warm smile.

"A-are you sure that you're okay? You're soaking wet. What if you catch a cold?"

"I'm a dragon slayer, I don't get colds."

"O-oh, right. Well you should still change out of those wet clothes. I have some spare in my boat."

Wendy rushes back over to her rowing boat and comes back over with a treasure chest. She opens it up, and what's stored inside makes Natsu's stomach churn.

"I-I can't wear that!"

"I'm sorry Natsu-san, it's all I have."

With Wendy looking so upset as if she's failed him, to make her feel better, Natsu apprehensively gets changed. A few minutes later, after a struggle, he has discarded his soaked usual attire, and is now wearing a pink dress which falls to his knees and matches his hair colour, with a white frilly pinafore, and black and white horizontal-striped stockings.

"I can't believe I'm actually wearing this..."

"Now all you need to put on are these," Wendy says as she holds up a black ribbon headband, and a pair of black small heeled shoes.

"N-no way, not them too."

"But they complete the outfit, and you can't walk around without any shoes on..."

Seeing the sad look in Wendy's eyes, yet again, Natsu sighs, "fine..."

The mouse squeaks happily and helps him put the shoes and headband on, then puts a red ribbon into the pocket on the pinafore, "here, I have a spare red ribbon. You can have it."

"Why? What do I need this for?"

"You'll figure it out. How did you end up in the bottle in the first place anyway? I forgot to ask."

"Ah I'm looking for Lu-... I mean the White Rabbit. Have you seen her?"

"You mean that rabbit?" Wendy asks, glancing over to the shore at the other end of the beach, where Lucy the White Rabbit, has just washed up at in an upside-down, open, green umbrella.

"That's her!"

Natsu runs over to the other end of the beach but finds it difficult to run in the heels he's wearing. As he tries to catch up with Lucy, the White Rabbit has already rushed off of the beach and into the forest before he can get there, still rambling on about being late as she looks at her pocket watch.

"No, wait! Don't go!"

The dragon slayer leaves Wendy behind on the beach, and follows after the White Rabbit. The heels he is wearing gives him even more difficulties as he gets into the woodland. Lucy is no longer in sight but still he ventures further, unaware of the two pairs of eyes that are watching his every move.

"Ugh, I hate these shoes," Natsu groans as he gives up on running and takes a rest on a large wooden log, "how am I supposed to run in these?"

"You don't run."

"You walk."

"Eh, who said that?" Getting up from his seat, he turns around and looks for the source of the familiar voices.

"I've never seen him in Wonderland before, have you Tweedledee?"

"No I have not. Have you Tweedledum?"

"I can't say I have. What about you Tweedledee?"

"I don't think so, Tweedledum. Have you?"

"I don't have time for this?! Show yourselves!"

"I think we've angered him."

"So do I."

The tall weeds on his left, rustle, and he watches in anticipation to see who emerges from them, relatively surprised when Gemini, one of Lucy's celestial spirits, fly out to greet him. Huh? I thought Lucy spirits couldn't come to this world unless she summoned them? Asides from Loke...

"Why are you here in this forest? Are you going somewhere?" Mini asks as she and Gemi dance around Natsu.

"I'm looking for the White Rabbit. Have you seen her?"

"No. But if you need the White Rabbit for something, we can be her for you," Gemi replies, before he and Mini join up together and transform into Lucy, only wearing towel around their body.

"Uh, thanks, but no thanks. I need to find the real one."

"Eh, why?"

This time, when Gemini transform, they change their image of Lucy and dress her in the blue and white outfit that she wore when she first joined Fairy Tail.

"I want to know where she's going."

"What for?" Gemini asks, once again changing Lucy's outfit. This time they are wearing a purple top, navy skirt, and a pair of white and purple boots, with a blue ribbon keeping the majority of their hair up in a ponytail.

"Because I'm curious."

"Ah, that's no good. You should be careful."

"I wanted to ask her something too, but I can't remember what it was..." Natsu ponders as he starts heading away from Gemini, "I need to go."

"No! You can't go yet. Play a game with us."

"I don't have time to."

"Here, if we give you this, you will have to play. What game shall we play?" Gemini asks as they change clothes once again, and reach into the back pocket of their pants, then hands over a sheet of red paper.

Natsu pockets the paper and watches as Gemini bicker amongst themselves about which game to play, all while continuously changing their outfit, still transformed in Lucy's image. As Gemini is distracted, Natsu uses this as his chance to get away, continuing his search for the White Rabbit.

Eventually, the dragon slayer finds himself in a clearing within the forest where a small cottage resides, along with a large garden and vegetable patches. As he walks up the path, the door to the cottage bursts open, and the White Rabbit rushes out of the cottage. Lucy has changed since Natsu last saw her, but she still has her white ears and fluffy tail. She is now wearing a plain white, buttoned up, long-sleeved shirt, a white pair of black shorts, a pair of black boots which go up to just below her knees, and she is carrying a black waistcoat.

"I'm so late, I need to get to the castle, I need to hurry! Ah, Flare!" Lucy calls out when she spots Natsu, "there you are. I have no time, please hurry inside and grab my white gloves for me."

"Eh? I'm not Flare, I'm Natsu! Lucy, what's wrong?"

"I'm late! That's what's wrong, now hurry and get my gloves," Lucy quickly puts on her waistcoat and pushes Natsu inside the cottage.

"Geez, fine, I'll get the stupid gloves. Where are they anyway?"

"They're in my bedroom."

Natsu makes his way up the stairs and finds the bedroom. Inside, it's cosy and warm as a roaring fire cracks the freshly placed wooden logs. As the dragon slayer looks around for the gloves, he doesn't notice that his body is growing until he realises how further away the furniture starts to get.

"Not again..."

Natsu grows so large that his head hits the ceiling and he has to bend over to not crash through the roof, however, his arms and legs end up smashing the windows and doors, pushing through them and startling Lucy who runs off screaming about a monster, thus, losing her once again.

"No wait! Lucy, don't go! Ugh... How am I supposed to get out of here...? I'm so hungry~," Natsu whines.

As he moves his hand slightly, to get comfier, he accidently scolds himself on the fire that is still intact. Natsu grins and eats the flames to satisfy his appetite, not at all surprised this time when his body starts to shrink until he is no taller than a flower. Wasting no time, he doesn't question it, and quickly rushes out the back door of the cottage to find the White Rabbit. Unfortunately, he gets lost in the garden, trying to battle his way through the flowers and shrubs that are taller than him.

Groaning, Natsu keeps walking, unsure of which way he should be heading, and as his pace slows down, he hears a mocking laugh which seems awfully familiar. He looks around trying to figure out where the laugh is coming from but it just gets louder and less clear where the source is.

"Gihihihi~."

"Hey, who's there?! Come out now or I'll pummel you into the ground! I've been messed around enough for one day!"

"How can you hit me, when you can't see me~?"

"I can smell you and I will find you!"

"Gihihihi. I'm much larger than you."

"So? I'll still win."

"So it's a fight you want eh? Then in that case, let me give you a hint. One Side will make you grow taller-"

"Side of what?"

"And the other side will make you grow shorter."

"Side of what?!"

"Ugh, the mushroom of course! It's right behind you!"

Natsu turns around to see a large mushroom within a small clearing. He walks over and takes a piece from each side.

"Use the left side."

The dragon slayer takes a small bite from the piece of mushroom in his left hand. At first, nothing happens. As he's about to take another bite, his body becomes even smaller."

"Eh?!"

"Gihihihi. Oh sorry, I meant my left."

"Agh! You did this on purpose!" Natsu accuses as he takes a bite from the other piece of mushroom.

This time, he starts growing. However, to his dismay, he keeps on growing and ends up being taller than the trees behind him which leads into a forest.

"What the?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you~. You were supposed to lick the piece of mushroom, not eat it~."

Natsu growls angrily as he eats a little bit of the piece of mushroom in his left hand to make him smaller again. Once he is the size he was before the situation with the mushroom, he then licks the correct piece once, and sighs in relief when he's back to his original size.

He hears the mocking laughter from before, and this time he has no doubt as to who it is that has been messing with him. "Gajeel! Get out here right now!"

Natsu angrily follows the path into the forest, shoving the pieces of mushroom into his pockets, making sure they are in different ones so that he doesn't mix them up, and he hears the laughter once more, closer this time. The path he is following splits up into three separate paths, and as he looks up at the trees he sees a large toothy grin floating just above a tree branch. "Gajeel?"

Two red beady eyes suddenly appear along with the mouth, and Natsu watches at Gajeel's figure slowly materialises in his eye line, sitting on a tree branch. Gajeel is wearing his usual clothes, and looks pretty much the same, apart from the black and gray cat ears and tail.

"...You're a cat?"

"Of course. What else would I be? I'm Cheshire Cat. There are no Gajeel's here, whatever that is."

"Right... Oh uh, you have something at the corner of your mouth..."

"Hmm?" Gajeel wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, then licks it off of his hand like a cat would when grooming themselves. "Ah, it's just frosting. Anyway, pinkie, what are you doing here? And what's with the dress?"

Natsu frowns at the name, "I was trying to find a good present for Gray, and my clothes got wet. This was all Wendy had for me to change into."

"Wendy?"

"Oh, the mouse."

Gajeel grins from ear to ear, "a mouse? It's been awhile since I went out on a hunt."

"Hey! Don't even think about it! I won't let you hurt Wendy!"

"Fine. I can't be bothered anyway, this time..." Gajeel's body slowly starts disappearing, causing Natsu to panic.

"Oi! I said no hunting! Don't leave! I need your help! I don't know which way I should go!"

The Cheshire Cat materialises once more and grins, "it depends on where you want to get to."

"It doesn't matter as long as I-"

"Then it really doesn't matter which way you go," Gajeel replies as he floats down from the tree branch, slowly disappearing once more until he is fully invisible, before walking along the path in front of Natsu, leaving paw prints on the ground. The cat laughs as he reappears in another tree in front of the dragon slayer. "Oh and by the way, if you'd really like to know, she went that way," he says while pointing right and looking left before switching between the two directions.

"Who did?"

"The White Rabbit."

"She did?"

"She did what?"

"Went that way?"

"Who did?"

"The White Rabbit!"

"What rabbit?"

"Ugh! Stop messing with me!" Natsu angrily shouts, losing his temper with Gajeel.

"However, If I were looking for a White Rabbit, then I'd ask the Mad Hatter," Cheshire calmly replies as he points to the sign at the first path which says "Mad Hatter".

Natsu looks down the path, unsure of whether to follow.

"Or there's the March Hare." Gajeel indicates to the second path which has a sign pointing to it and simply has the words, "March Hare", written on them. "But of course, she's mad too. We all are. Gihihihi~."

Cheshire disappears, leaving Natsu standing between the two paths, one which leads to the Mad Hatter, the other leading to the March Hare. He stands there for a while, contemplating which way he should go, and eventually he takes the path which leads to the Mad Hatter.

Natsu follows the path and it is not long until he finds himself at a small cosy house with a roof made of straw. He hears voices coming from behind the building, and so he makes his way around and into the garden. Unlike the house, this garden is very large, beautiful too, however what draws Natsu's attention is the tea party which is going on in the middle of the garden. Here there is a large rectangular table, covered with a table cloth, surrounded by more than 10 chairs. On the table are several cake stands filled with baked treats, over two dozen tea pots and tea cups with saucers.

The dragon slayer makes his way over to the table and at the opposite end sits Juvia, Mirajane, and Cana. The three ladies seem to be their usual selves and are dressed in their ordinary clothes, however Cana, who Natsu guesses has passed out drunk, has small mouse ears and a tail, similar to Wendy's.

Juvia and Mirajane are happily sipping tea and making small talk together while Natsu sits down at the table unnoticed. Looking over the food, his stomach rumbles.

"No, no, no, no, no. You can't sit down unless you've been invited," Juvia says when she sees Natsu at the other end of the table.

The ladies, aside from Cana, make their way over to Natsu and frown, "that is a very rude thing to do," Mirajane scolds.

"A very rude thing to do indeed," Cana slurs as she wakes up for a few seconds before dropping her head back down on the table and falling back asleep.

"Ah, sorry. I didn't realise."

Natsu's stomach makes noises again and Juvia jumps at the chance to offer him a cupcake, "here, have one of these. I made them."

Taking one of the offered treats, Natsu notices that there are small drawings of Gray on them, as expected from the water mage.

"Oh my, we never offered you a cup of tea. Would you like one?" Mirajane asks.

Natsu takes a bite into the cupcake and nods "um, sure. Mm, this cupcake is good."

"You like my cakes? Then you must join our tea party. You are now officially invited," Juvia smiles as Mirajane picks up the closest tea pot and pours the dragon slayer a cup of tea, "sugar?"

"Two please," he replies before turning to face Juvia, "have you drawn Gray on all of this food?"

"Gray, who's gray?" Mirajane replies for Juvia as she is about to hand over the tea, taking it back before Natsu can have any.

The water mage suddenly calls out for everyone to move places and they drag Natsu out of his chair and move him further down the table. Cana awakes for a short while as they change places and is fast asleep as soon as she sits in another chair.

"Would you like a little more tea?" Juvia asks Natsu as she pours several cups of tea beside her at once.

"I haven't had any yet. So I can't very well take more."

"Ah, you mean you very well can't take less," Mirajane smiles as she pours Natsu another cup of tea, placing it in front of him.

"Yes, you can always take more than nothing," Juvia adds while pouring half a bowl of sugar into Natsu's tea causing it to pile up and spill out of the cup. Mirajane then takes the tea away and makes more for Natsu, once again placing it in front of him, but then takes it away again before he can have some, "and the drawings on the cakes are of my handsome Knave-sama," the water mage says dreamily with hearts in her eyes, answering Natsu's question from before.

"We never asked your name," Mirajane states as she once again makes more tea for Natsu but doesn't give him any.

"I'm Natsu.

"It's nice to meet you Natsu. I'm the March Hare."

"And I'm the Mad Hatter," Juvia says, introducing herself, "the one asleep over there is the Dormouse. Now that's out of the way, what's bothering you Natsu-san? Won't you tell us all about it?"

"Start at the beginning."

Natsu complies and leans forward in his seat as Mirajane and Juvia gather closer in order to hear his story, "Well it all started when I went shopping with Happy-"

"Very interesting. Who's happy?" the March Hare asks.

"Happy is my friend. He's a cat. Well an exceed really-"

"CAT?!"

The Dormouse wakes up at the mention of a cat and jumps out of her seat, panicking as she runs down the length of the table. Juvia and Mirajane go after her, grabbing a bottle of sake from under the table and open it. Once they catch Cana they make her drink some of the sake in order to calm her down. The Dormouse calms down instantly and sits back down; resting her head on the table and falling into an alcohol induced slumber.

"Now see, these are the things that upset me," Juvia frowns as she sits back down.

"See all this trouble you started," the March Hare says to Natsu as she pours her and the Mad Hatter some tea.

As the dragon slayer is about to apologise, he is once again given more tea which is taken away from him before he can have any.

"What were you saying Natsu-san?" Mirajane asks, "start from the beginning."

Irritated, Natsu sighs then takes a deep breath before starting the story, this time leaving out Happy, "I was shopping-"

"Whatever for?" the Mad Hatter asks.

"I was looking for a good birthday present to give, and that was when I saw the White Rabbit. I thought that she would be able to help me find the perfect birthday present. But I lost her and now I can't find her."

"Hm, well we could help you. If it's someone you like then maybe some flowers would be nice. More tea, Mad Hatter?"

"Why thank you," Juvia replies and smiles as the March Hare pours her a cup of tea, "flowers sound good, but maybe some chocolate would be better. Or jewellery."

"Sake is always good~," the Dormouse says, waking up for a brief moment before hiccupping and passing back out again.

"Ooh, maybe this could be of use," the Mad Hatter suggests as she reaches under the table and brings out a small round box, handing it over to Natsu.

The dragon slayer voices his thanks as he places the box into his pocket. All he needs now is something to go in it.

"So whose idea will you go with?" Mirajane asks, "I think flowers would be best."

"No. I don't think the Knave, would want flowers."

"The knave?! You're getting a present for the knave?!" The Mad Hatter shouts

"U-uh yeah…."

"I-I-I have a love rival?! I won't let you have my precious Knave-sama!"

"No! It's nothing like that!"

"It's not?"

"No of course not."

Juvia puffs up her cheeks, "why? Is there something wrong with him?"!

"Eh?"

"You don't think he's good enough for you?!" Is he not handsome enough, is that it?!"

"What?!"

"Is he too cold for you?!"

"I don't like him in that way! He's my friend!"

"Oh. He's your friend? Then why didn't you say so? Would you like some more tea?" Juvia smiles completely calm which is a sudden change from two seconds ago.

"No thank you. Look, do you guys know where I can find the White Rabbit or not?"

"The Queen of Hearts might know," The March Hare replies.

"Ah yes, the Queen would know," the Mad Hatter adds on.

"Ok. And where can I find her?"

"At her castle of course."

"Which is where?"

"Would you like some more tea?" Mirajane asks him, handing him a cup of tea.

"Change Places!" Juvia shouts, waking up Cana the Dormouse.

As the three ladies chance seats, Natsu takes advantage of the commotion and uses it to get away, "I'll just find it by myself then."

The dragon slayer walks away from the Mad Hatter's house and goes back into the forest. As he delves deeper and deeper, he becomes even more lost and frustrated.

"Ugh! I give up. I don't need the White Rabbit. I'll find a present by myself. Now how do I get home?"

As he tries to figure out which way to go, he hears really loud and obnoxious singing from behind him. Natsu turns around to see Gajeel appear in a large oak tree.

"Oh Cheshire Cat, it's you."

"Hm, did you expect the White Rabbit, perchance?" Gajeel replies once he's stopped singing.

"No, I'm through with rabbits. I just want to go home. But I can't find my way…."

"Naturally, that's because you have no way. Always here you see are the Queen's way."

"You mean the Queen of Hearts? I've never met her."

"You haven't? Oh but you must. She'll be mad about you, simply mad. Gihihihi~." Gajeel laughs as his body starts disappearing.

"Oi, wait! Where can I find her!?"

"Well, some go this way," Cheshire grins as he points to his right, and then left, "some go that way. But as for me myself personally, I prefer the shortcut."

The Cheshire Cat pulls on a branch and in front of Natsu's very eyes, a large, red, wooden door materialises into the trunk of the tree and opens for him. As he watches the door open, he forgets about Gajeel, who disappears once more without him noticing, and Natsu steps through the door in the tree trunk, ending up in a large green hedged maze. He pays no notice as the door closes behind him and wanders off in the maze, trying to find his way out.

"I'm late! I'm late! The Queen is going to be so mad with me!"

"The White Rabbit! Oi, wait up!"

Lucy seems to not hear Natsu as she continues running in a hurry, failing to notice when her pocket watch drops out from the pocket of her waistcoat as the chain it is attached to hadn't been clipped onto the fabric properly.

"Hey, you dropped this!"

Natsu picks up the pocket watch and examines it. The watch works perfectly and does not have a single scratch or mark on it. On the back are carvings of three identical snowflakes. The dragon slayer puts the watch into the pocket of his pinafore, and looks around for the White Rabbit. Lucy has gone once again, and it takes Natsu a while to find his way out of the maze. When he does, he finds himself in a garden outside of a castle. He groans when he sees a large rectangular table fully decorated with a frilly white table cloth, small plates, tea pots, as well as cups and saucers.

"Not another tea party….."

When Natsu gets closer to the table he notices that there is no food laid out but there is a huge pink cardboard box. He walks up to the table and opens the lid of the box to peek inside. The box is empty apart from a few scrapings of white vanilla frosting along the sides. The dragon slayer sudden hears a yell and he jumps back from the table. He turns around in time to witness an angry Erza stomp her way over. Erza is wearing a full length gown with printed heart details and gold trim, a high white collar, a hoop and tulle petticoat, a velvet jewelled choker and a sequined heart tiara. She is also wearing red heels.

"Someone has eaten my strawberry cake!" Erza shouts as she looks around then points to Natsu, "You. You've eaten my cake!"

"E-eh?! No, I've only just got here! I didn't eat it!"

"Well you're the only one here so it must have been you! Guards!"

A bunch of guards dressed as playing cards march out of the castle, along with Lucy, the White Rabbit, who is blowing the trumpet as she rushes out of the castle. Out of breath, she then announces Erza, the Queen of Hearts, followed by Jellal who has just turned up and is announced as the King of Hearts. Taking a closer look at the playing card guards, Natsu notices that they are the members from the independent guild, Crime Sorciere, including Midnight, Meredy, Angel, and Cobra.

"Guards! That pink haired boy in a dress has eaten my cake! Off with his head!"

Natsu's eyes widen as the guards surround him. Just as they are about to grab him, they stop when they hear someone snoring.

"Can you hear that?" Angel asks the others

"I think it's coming from under the table," Cobra replies as he walks over to the table, Erza getting madder by the second as her guards have not instantly obeyed her order and have not chopped off Natsu's head already.

The guards surround the table and take a peek under the tablecloth.

"It's the Knave of Hearts!" Meredy shouts, "He's sleeping under the table!"

Midnight and the rest of the guards drag out a sleeping Gray, who is typically only wearing boxers, from under the table.

"They must have been working together! Off with their heads!" Erza orders.

The Knave of Hearts is woken by Erza's shouts and looks around in a confused daze as the guards seize both him and Natsu.

"Hang on a minute!" Jellal interrupts, turning to face the Queen, "shouldn't they have a trial first?"

A trial?"

"Just a little trial?"

"Very well then. Let the trial begin!" Erza orders.

The guards keep hold of Natsu and gray as they take them to the courtroom within the castle. Lucy, the White Rabbit, plays the trumpet again as she walks into the room, followed by the guards with Natsu and Gray. Jellal is sitting in the judge's chair, with Erza not that far away, and the jury consists of several talking animals such as ducks, birds, cats, and frogs, among others.

Lucy stands at her post, and takes out a scroll, "Your majesty, members of the jury, royal subjects…

Jellal coughs, interrupting her.

"... And the king. The prisoners at the bar are charged with stealing and eating the cake that was made especially for our majesty, the Queen of Hearts, causing her to lose her temper and-"

"Ok that's enough!" Erza shouts, before turning her attention to Gray and Natsu, "Now then, are you two ready for your sentence?"

"Sentence?!" Natsu's eyes widen at the word, "but there must be a verdict first, right?"

"Sentence first! Verdict afterwards. Right, now that's out of the way, off with their heads!"

"Ah, wait. We've called no witnesses, couldn't we hear from one or two, maybe?" Jellal asks Erza.

"Ugh, fine. But get on with it!"

Jellal calls out for the first witness and the guards hurriedly bring out Mirajane, the March Hare, who is drinking tea.

"What do you know about this unfortunate affair?" the King of Hearts asks the March Hare.

"Nothing."

"Nothing?!" shouts Erza.

"Nothing." Mirajane repeats.

"That's very important!" the Queen replies, ordering the jury to write it down, in which they do.

"Next witness, please."

The March Hare is taken away while the guards bring out Cana, the Dormouse, who says nothing before passing out drunk. Natsu is getting more annoyed as the trial carries on.

The next person brought out is Juvia, the Mad Hatter. While on the spot, Juvia spends most of the time being nervous around the King and Queen. She also calls out to her precious Knave-sama, who simply ignores her, though she doesn't seem to mind. When asked where she was when the crime was committed, the Mad Hatter informs them that she was at home drinking tea.

Gray is then asked to speak, telling them how he'd only gone to sleep under the table and that the cake was still there when he did so. Natsu is furious when the knave tries to pin the crime on him. The both of them start arguing back and fore when Natsu suspects that Gray is simply trying to get him into trouble for something that the Knave did himself. Their fight becomes physical and only stops when Erza hits them both on their heads and orders them to sit back down.

"I've had enough of this trial," the Queen of Hearts shouts, "it is obvious that they are both guilty, and the only solution is, off with their heads!"

Natsu and Gray's eyes widen as the playing card guards surround them once more. It is then that Gajeel suddenly appears and the dragon slayer then remembers that when he saw Gajeel earlier, he had white frosting around his mouth.

"Wait! It was the Cheshire Cat who ate your cake! I saw him with frosting around his mouth earlier!"

"I did not, you pink haired brat!" Gajeel growls.

"Yes you did! You even told me it was frosting!"

Erza glares at Gajeel, forcing a confession out him, "alright I did it! And it was delicious too."

"I can't believe you'd do that Cheshire! Trying to get me and the Knave to take the blame, when the whole time that I've been here all you've done is help me! This was your plan all along wasn't it!? You always seem to disappear at convenient times!" Natsu shouts angrily.

"SILENCE!" Erza screams, "OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!"

Gajeel is pushed over to where Natsu and Gray are standing as the guards' spring into action. Natsu gets ready to fight them and attempts to knock one or two of them out. However, he finds it difficult to attack them in heels and a dress, especially when he doesn't have his dragon slayer powers. He suddenly remembers about the pieces of mushroom which he had shoved into his pockets so he quickly takes them and takes a small bite out of one of the pieces, not worrying about which one does what.

The dragon slayer suddenly grows in size, startling the guards and the other people in the room, and he uses their shock as an advantage to get out of the castle and into the castle gardens. Once he's out he ends up destroying the maze because of his large size as he runs away. He can hear the shouts of Erza and the guards as they chase after him, and as he's running his body returns to its normal size.

Natsu finds himself back at the door that he went through after falling down that rabbit hole, and so he tries to open the door, hoping that he can get away this way.

"Ow! I'm still locked you know!" Carla scolds.

"But the Queen and the guards! I need to get out!"

"You need to wake up, Natsu!"

"What do you mean!? Just hurry up and let me out!"

"You need to wake up! Just wake up Natsu! Natsu, wake up…!"

Natsu opens his eyes to see Carla , Wendy, and Happy above him."

"Natsu!" Happy cries as he swoops down and clings to the dragon slayer.

"Are you ok?" Wendy asks, "you've had quite the fall."

"We've been trying to wake you up for ages," Carla frowns.

Natsu looks around and realises that he's at the bottom of two flights of steps, the exact same ones that he fell down just before he saw Lucy and chased her into the park.

"The White Rabbit?! Where's the White Rabbit?!"

"Natsu? What do mean? What rabbit?" Happy asks with a worried expression on his face.

"Lucy, I mean Lucy…."

"She's out of town on a job. Didn't she tell you this morning?" She's been gone all day."

"But I…."

Natsu sits himself up and groans, "What happened?"

Carla folds her arms across her chest as she floats closer to the ground so that Natsu can see her, "Happy came to find us after you fell down those steps. He couldn't wake you."

Wendy helps Natsu up from the floor and a ray light blinds him. Rubbing at his eyes he then moves position and that is when something in a shop window catches his eye. Wordlessly he walks towards it.

"Natsu, where are you going?" Wendy asks, getting no reply.

They follow him curiously as he stares at a pocket watch with a silver chain which is on display in the shop window. The watch looks exactly like the one he saw in his dream, and he can sense a strong familiar magic emitting from it in waves. Natsu steps back from the window to look up at the shop's sign which indicates that it is an antiques shop. When he looks back to the watch, he notices that what is also in the window are rolls of red ridden and red wrapping paper, as well as several gift boxes varying in size. He leaves his friends even more confused when he enters the shop. The three of them glance to each other briefly before following Natsu inside. When they catch up with him he is already talking to the shop owner and asking him about the watch.

The owner of the shop informs them that the pocket watch has been around for centuries and that it has been passed down through generations of strong and powerful ice mages which explains how Natsu sensed a familiar magic from the watch. The shop owner tells them that a powerful ice mage who had possession of the watch several decades ago had sealed some of his own magic into the watch and gave it to his partner so that they could feel safe and protected when he wasn't around.

Natsu is not sure whether or not he believes the story but he can tell that this watch has been in the possession of some powerful ice mages. The watch isn't cheap, it's very expensive and the shop owner will not let them haggle on the price, but he buys it anyway with his savings which he has to go back home to get. He also buys some of the red wrapping paper, red ribbon, and one of the gift boxes that he saw in the shop window. Smiling, he leaves the shop for the second time with his friends, satisfied that he has found the perfect present for Gray.

* * *

The next day, everyone is at the guild to celebrate Gray's birthday and he is currently opening his presents. When he opens the gift from Natsu, his eyes widen at the pocket watch and chain. This is the exact watch he had seen in town a few weeks ago. He had sensed the aura of a powerful magic, similar to his own, and was drawn to an antique shop where he saw this watch in the window. He couldn't afford it and so he had been going out on more jobs lately to try and save up for it, with no luck.

"How did you know that I wanted this?"

"You wanted it? - Haha of course I knew you wanted this…."

"Yeah right, I can tell when you're lying."

"Ok, ok, I had some help," Natsu smiles as he glances to Lucy, and for a split seconds he's sure that he can see rabbit ears on her head. In disbelief he blinks and shakes his head from side to side, and when he looks at Lucy again, the ears have gone.

"What is it? Have got something on my face?" Lucy asks.

"No, it's nothing," Natsu replies and smiles when he sees the grin on Gray's face as he takes his present out of its box.

* * *

A few hours later, the party is still in full swing and Natsu steps outside for a bit of fresh air. The sun has gone down now and the stars are more visible in the night sky. The dragon slayer smiles as he looks up at the stars. He leans back against the front wall of the guild and is joined by gray shortly afterwards.

"Hey, thanks for the watch. I'd been trying to get enough money to buy it for weeks. Are you sure you could afford it? I don't want you wasting that amount of money on me if you need it."

"It's fine. I wanted to get it. No one forced me."

"Right, well thanks….," Gray smiles then looks around to check if anyone else is there before he pushes himself off of the wall then turns to Natsu and yanks him forward for a kiss.

Natsu's eyes widen in shock and Gray has already pulled away before he can even blink. The ice mage just smirks at him briefly then grins as he goes back inside the guild. Natsu recovers from his shock and grins as he follows Gray inside.

The dream he had about Wonderland had confused him, but that kiss from Gray has confused him even more, mainly because he liked it. He never expected to, but then again how could he if he had never expected Gray to kiss him in the first place? The thought of kissing Gray had never even crossed his mind, until now that is. And for some strange reason, he wants to do it again.


End file.
